The Use of Anti-Core Strengthening Exercises to Protect Your Back By: Kelsey VanVolkenburg PT, DPT
When you hear “core exercises” what is your immediate thought? Maybe it is crunches or sit-ups? Well, before I went to PT school, that was basically my knowledge of core strengthening. PT school taught me a lot more, and then my very first clinical experience taught me even MORE. My clinical instructor, who was a physical therapist, also had his CSCS, which is certified strength and conditioning specialist, and he was very knowledgeable about safe and effective core strengthening. What I learned most from him was a variety of core exercises called Anti-Core Strengthening Exercises.
What exactly are anti-core strengthening exercises?
They are a series of exercises that are focused at preventing movement from the hips and spine.¹ Why would you want to prevent motion? Well, the purpose of your core is to protect your spine and joints by resisting movement, not creating it.¹ By doing this, it creates a solid base for movement, and allows the body to effectively transfer force from the lower to the upper body, in turn producing more power but most importantly making the body more resilient to injury.¹
Now I am assuming you want to know what these anti-core strengthening exercises are?
There are 4 different categories of anti-core strengthening exercises: anti-extension, anti-rotation, anti- lateral bending and anti-flexion. Many individuals that have acquired their CSCS focus mostly on the anti-extension, anti-rotation and anti-lateral bending as being the most functional for the core. Many athletes and coaches, however, forget about the posterior chain muscle groups, meaning the back side of your body, which are strengthened with the use of anti-flexion.3 Commonly the anterior core, meaning your tummy region, along with your obliques are the main focus when it comes to core strengthening however your core surrounds every side of your body so that posterior aspect, or your back and glutes, are very important to include as well. With these anti-core exercises, you are activating all areas of your core, but with each specific type of exercise you are primarily activating the muscles opposite to what the exercise is called. This sounds very confusing however it is simple when you break it down. When you are doing an anti-extension exercise, you are using your flexion muscles to prevent extension, hence the reason it is called ANTI-extension. Now before I go to explain each category, let me do a simple vocabulary update. The meaning of flexion is bending forward. Extension is bending backwards. Rotation is the turning motion of your body. Lastly, lateral bending is bending your spine sideways such as reaching your arm down the side of your leg. Now we can go on to describe the categories and give you some examples of different exercises you can perform.
Anti-Extension
a. These exercises help to “set the spine” during functional movements to prevent excess movement and to limit injury. For example, when doing an overhead press or placing a heavy object over your head, without control of your core your lower spine will go into extension and that heavy load will put a lot of stress on the internal structures and can cause injury.² Working on anti-extension exercises will help the muscles of your spine control these functional movements. Some examples of anti-extension exercises are: dead bug, plank and reverse crunches.
I. Dead Bug- Lie on your back and bring your hips and knees to 90 degrees. Raise your arms straight up toward the ceiling, keeping your wrist in line with your shoulders. Before you start, focus on keeping your back flat to the floor. Take a breath in and reach an arm and the opposite leg out, leaving the other arm and leg in the starting position. Reach them out as far as you can without your low back coming off the floor. Breathe all of your air out at the end range, still focusing on keeping the back flat to the floor. Return to the start position and repeat with the other arm and leg. Shoot for 5-10 reps per side.¹
II. Plank- The classic Plank allows an athlete to learn how to develop more tension in the core to prevent extension. Start with the forearms on the ground and your feet together. Bring your hips off the ground. At the top of the Plank, focus on not allowing your low back to arch or hips to sag as you envision pulling your belly button towards your ribcage. Also, it is important to keep the upper back from collapsing. You can either go for a set time (such as 30-60 consecutive seconds), or a number of breaths. Either way, you should focus on completing full breaths throughout the entire exercise to ensure your core is creating stability and not your diaphragm.¹
III. Reverse crunches- Place your knees and ankles hip width apart in order to position the foam roller between your calf and hamstring and actively stabilize it with the hamstrings. Lay down on a traditional flat bench, place your hands on the bench behind your head and actively grip to gain stability and control over the upper back and shoulders on both sides of the body. Start by squeezing your abs. Peak the contraction at the top for a full second then slowly lower the knees and core down under full eccentric tension and control into a neutral spine position at the bottom. The key portion of the movement here is the controlled lowering, so really focus in on lengthening from the abs only without losing spinal neutral on the backside of the body faulting into extension. As you move lower into the bottom aspects of the range of motion nearing neutral starting position, the force and mass directed from the legs are going to want to pull the lumbar spine into extension, hence the anti-extension based training.³
2. Anti Rotation
a. These exercises help to strengthen the hips and the core to resist rotational forces, which is protecting the spine.¹ For athletes, rotational forces are very important to maximize their power, however they must be able to control or prevent these movements as well.¹ By doing this, it allows a steadier transfer of energy to their upper body while preventing or decreasing any risk of injury.¹ You get the most out of these exercises/movements because it is syncing the whole body to function as one unit while strengthening the weak links.³ Examples of anti-rotation exercises are the birddog, pallof press and seated medicine ball toss.
I. Birddog- Start in a quadruped (all fours) position with your hands beneath your shoulders and your knees beneath your hips. Use your abs to find a neutral/flat position at the low back and hips. Keep the hip from shifting or rotating and the low back from arching as you reach the opposite hand and leg out. Also, imagine a glass of water on your low back. Hold the end range of the movement for a 1-2 count and then return to the start position. Perform the same movement with the other arm and leg. Do not let the hips shift as you transition between sides.¹
II. Pallof Press- The individual will set the knees and hips in an athletic stance and press the band away until the arms are straight. Hold the end range for a 1-2 count and slowly return the cable back to the chest. The entire time, the resistance from the cable is trying to make you rotate at the hips and spine. The goal is to resist the rotation that the pulling band creates.1,2 This can be performed standing or in a tall kneeling position.
III. Seated Medicine Ball Toss- This core exercise is explosive but also forces the athlete to brace their core against rotation when the med ball comes back off the wall. Choose a lower weighted ball to start and if it is too easy you can increase to a heavier ball. You sit on the ground with your feet up and hold the ball with both hands, throw it against a wall and catch the ball as it bounces back while maintaining a tight core and preventing rotation of your spine. The goal is to keep the feet up and resist rotation as the ball comes back to the opposite pocket area. Be sure to keep your core tight to prevent any injury.²
3. Anti Lateral Flexion
a. During many change-of-direction movements in sports, the spine will want to bend to the side as the shoulders will want to sway outside of the hips. When this happens, not only will the athlete's ability to quickly and efficiently change directions be reduced, but they will also be placed at a higher risk for injury to the ankle, knee and hip.¹ Also, people at the gym do side crunches all the time to try to get rid of their “love handles” however they are not properly training these muscles. The obliques functionally act to resist motion and maintain a proper hip and core position, they do not respond well to active movements through a range of motion, such as the side crunches. So working anti-lateral bending is a perfect way to strengthen these muscles and protect the spine.³ Examples of anti-lateral bending exercises are side planks and briefcase or single arm farmer’s carries.
I. Side Plank- To execute the Side Plank, lie on your side with your forearm on the ground directly beneath your shoulder and your feet stacked. Before you bring your hips off the ground, engage your abs as if you were to pull your belly button to your ribcage. Bridge your hips up from the ground, obtaining a straight line from the shoulders to the ankles. You should feel the work taking place in the underside of the core, particularly in your obliques. If you feel your low back is doing most of the work, try rotating the top hip slightly forward to put the obliques in a better position to do the work for you. Like the plank, you can go for time (30-60 consecutive seconds), or you can use a breath count (5-8 full breaths).¹
II. Single Arm Farmer’s Carry- Start in a standing position with a heavy dumbbell(or whatever weight is best for you) in one hand. Keep the abs engaged and upper back tight. Focus on keeping the body "tight and tall," never allowing the torso to bend toward the dumbbell or lean away to the other side. Take small and controlled steps, keeping the feet from crossing over each other as you walk forward. Go for time (30-60 seconds) or distance (20-100 yards), and then switch the dumbbell to the other hand and repeat. You should feel the work mostly taking place on the side of the core away from the dumbbell.¹
4. Anti Flexion
a. The last set of anti-movement exercises is the anti-flexion, which is usually forgotten and it is important to include these in your core strengthening routine. Anti-flexion based core training directs a load in front of the body in order to challenge and resist the spine and core region being pulled into further degrees of flexion by working all of the extensor musculature on the back side of the body. Well rounded core programs incorporate as many synergistic regions as possible working together in order to maintain spinal and pelvic stability, so it’s almost negligent not to be training the spinal erectors and other posterior muscles of the body in order to maintain position and stability.³ An example of an anti-flexion exercise is a back extension isometric hold.
I. Back Extension Isometric Hold- This can be performed in a glute-ham raise machine (pictured below), or on a stability ball. You will get into the machine or on the ball with your chest facing down. You will maintain a flat back position and neutral positioning at the hips by activating all of the posterior muscles to include your lower back muscles (erector spinae), your buttocks (glutes), lats (large muscle from your shoulders to your spine), and the hamstrings (back of your thighs). This position is held for 20-60 seconds. To further challenge the anti-flexion position, a weight can be held close to the chest or a strengthening band can be used as well.³
This is a brief synopsis of how to strengthen your core with the use of anti-core strengthening exercises. These are just a few examples of the exercises and there are many more ways to modify or progress the exercises depending on the needs for each person. Just please remember, these exercises may not be for every person depending on your level of activity, your diagnosis or your surgical history, so if you want more questions on if these exercises will be good for you to try, please call our main office at (814)-324-0770 and speak to one of our physical therapists today!
References:
Why 'Anti' Movements Are an Athlete's Key to Functional Core Strength. Stack. Aug 2018. https://www.stack.com/a/why-anti-movements-are-an-athletes-key-to-functional-core-strength
Tingman J. Anti Rotation and Anti-Extension Core Exercises. IYCA. https://iyca.org/anti-rotation-anti-extension-core-exercises/
Rusin J. Anti-Core Training For Banded Up Meatheads. Dr. John Rusin. 2020. https://drjohnrusin.com/anti-core-training-for-banged-up-meatheads/